Medical school Prestige and Match

[MEDSCHOOL 14]

Hi, I was wondering how much medical school prestige matters for residency placement? I got into a top 10 school but liked the culture and curriculum at a different top 50 school (who may have better rankings for some surgery specialities I am interested in). Thank you for the advice!


Locations are both great and would be happy at either place location wise!

Cost is also essentially the same, still waiting for aid packages!

It is miami! And I think I do really love optho I’ve done research in the field and I think it’s something I want to do.

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[Angus Avagadro]

Go to the school that will help you best reach your goals in life. Students frequently change their specialty interest just like they switch majors in undergrad. Once you match your desired specialty, all that prestige stuff is noise. Fit was important to my wife, as she would excel no matter where she went to med school. She didnt like U Penn and turned it down because she didn't like the fit.You have a nice problem with multiple admissions. You can go about anywhere for residency from either school if you perform well and have a competitive app for that program. The T 10 school might give you an edge. Sorry, but this is a very personal choice and you need to weigh your options carefully. Good luck and best wishes.

 

[Isoval]

Go to the top 50.

Be somewhere that makes you happy first and foremost. You will not succeed at a place you do not enjoy.

 

[Tenk]

Keep in mind you prolly only spent a limited amount of time on campus and only interacted with a small fraction of the population. If you asked me to talk about the preclinical curriculum of the med school I went to I honestly don’t remember how any of it was set up outside of anatomy (because it doesn’t matter in the long run).

The most important factors of med school are cost, location, access to specialties and prestige because the first two will affect your life outside the hospital and the last two affect your ability to match. These are the things that will affect the rest of your life, not how a classroom is set up. Think about it, you have two years of preclinical med school, you will likely have 20-30 years of clinical practice. Choose the path that incurs the least debt but also gives you the job you want as an attending.

I’m not saying you should go to the “top 10” or whatever but the only thing you said that actually matters is the bit about subspecialty access. Cost and location weren’t mentioned and those are infinitely more important.

Just my 2 cents from someone over a decade out.

 

[Melchizedek]

Go to the top 10 school.

Med school name mattered more this match in terms of securing interviews for residency. Many of my friends in better ranked schools were interviewed at places even with lower application statistics. The innate bias is there, and not at all something negligible.

Its not just about having the name, but also connections and networking. Many of the top residencies pgy-1's are from similarly ranked medical schools. Its incestuous and kind of sickening. But this is part of the game.

People will want you to believe that the name on your degree doesn't matter, and further in your career it probably won't. But for this stage, name and connections are key for the game.

 

[MEDSCHOOL 14]

Go to the top 10 school.

Med school name mattered more this match in terms of securing interviews for residency. Many of my friends in better ranked schools were interviewed at places even with lower application statistics. The innate bias is there, and not at all something negligible.

Its not just about having the name, but also connections and networking. Many of the top residencies pgy-1's are from similarly ranked medical schools. Its incestuous and kind of sickening. But this is part of the game.

People will want you to believe that the name on your degree doesn't matter, and further in your career it probably won't. But for this stage, name and connections are key for the game.

Even if the top 50 schools is connected to a better optho hospital with one of the top residencys in the country? (Which I’m extremely interested in)

 

[TelemarketingEnigma]

Even if the top 50 schools is connected to a better optho hospital with one of the top residencys in the country? (Which I’m extremely interested in)

Is this Miami by any chance? And how much do you care about prestige for your residency match?

If it is Miami, and if you’re really really committed to eyeballs already, having the resources of somewhere like Bascom Palmer is absolutely huge and I would in fact consider it over a top ten (depending on which one). Less so if you were less committed to ophtho. Miami will set you up well for anything you want to do, but if you want the most prestigious residency program possible then I would consider the top 10 more strongly.

(If it is in fact Miami, then location/weather/culture should be a huge component of your decision too. If it’s not Miami then never mind!)

 

[Med Ed]

Hi, I was wondering how much medical school prestige matters for residency placement? I got into a top 10 school but liked the culture and curriculum at a different top 50 school (who may have better rankings for some surgery specialities I am interested in). Thank you for the advice!


Locations are both great and would be happy at either place location wise!

Cost is also essentially the same, still waiting for aid packages!

This is one of the oldest questions on SDN. Right up there with "will my acceptance get rescinded if I tank my last semester?"

The ranking methodology used to declare one school a T10 and another a T50 is garbage. There are many factors to consider when comparing to schools, use as many of them as possible to make your decision. Sometimes the hardest choices are the ones where you can't really go wrong.

 

[GoSpursGo]

Even if the top 50 schools is connected to a better optho hospital with one of the top residencys in the country? (Which I’m extremely interested in)

As others have said, it sounds like you’re taking about Miami, and if you are interested in ophtho then Miami specifically would make sense to consider going there. But you have to be REALLY sure because while it’s a great school, that is the one thing that distinguishes it against other good schools

Otherwise, I do think med school prestige is becoming so important that it would be hard to say no to a top 10. As others have said, it is hard to get a sense of “culture” from an interview day, esp if virtual

 

[Angus Avagadro]

If optho is your choice and you are certain, then consider Sidney Kimmel as Wills Eye Hospital is associated with it. Arguably one of the best Eye Hospitals on the planet. Something to consider.

 

[MEDSCHOOL 14]

If optho is your choice and you are certain, then consider Sidney Kimmel as Wills Eye Hospital is associated with it. Arguably one of the best Eye Hospitals on the planet. Something to consider.

I already applied and have gotten my decisions this cycle, but good to know for residency!

 

[DarkHorizon]

Is it Miami or Iowa? Either will provide ample opportunity.

 

[MEDSCHOOL 14]

Is it Miami or Iowa? Either will provide ample opportunity.

Miami

 

[Melchizedek]

Even if the top 50 schools is connected to a better optho hospital with one of the top residencys in the country? (Which I’m extremely interested in)

My underlying point is that connections come with prestige. If the T50 school has better connections for Optho then go there.

Given the fact that most (READ MOST, you may or may not fall into that category) medical students end up changing their minds about their specialty through the course of medical school, my money would be on the T10 school. But hell, if you are 100% committed no turning back for Optho, then yeah go for the school with the direct pipeline to the best possible residency.

 

[DarkHorizon]

Miami

You’ll have roughly the same opportunities from Miller as you’d at most top 10 schools. Unless you’re planning to become work at Ivory towers as a faculty, it really won’t matter IMO. Go where you’ll be happier.

 

[darkjedi]

I think a lot of people don't really realize how much of a boon it is to come from a prestigious program. There are a lot of intangibles that are hard to quantify when you have access to more connections, professors, research, letters, etc. While it's certainly true that opportunities will exist at most institutions, there is no question that going to a better regarded school opens far more doors and can grease your way into more competitive fields than otherwise.